This invention relates to a dwelling fabricated to a major extent in a factory as a transportable module assembly, the complete fabrication of said dwelling being achieved when said module assembly is situated on the intended site for said dwelling.
It is well known to construct dwellings such as residential houses by assembling at the intended site of the house component units which have been fabricated in a factory and shipped to the house site. The component units, generally modules representing one or more rooms of the ultimate dwelling, may vary considerably in their width and length. Their height however, is generally consistent with an interior floor-to-ceiling height of 7 to 8 feet which prevails in the majority of currently constructed dwellings in the United States. The floor and ceiling structure of said modules may occupy another six to twelve inches of height, thereby causing the total height of a module comprising a single room or several rooms on the same horizontal level to be 8 to 9 feet. Transportation of such modular component units is generally achieved by truck so that delivery can be made directly to the building site.
There are certain practical and legally imposed restrictions as to the maximum height that any portion of a truck or its load can rise above the surface of the highway. Such restrictions are imposed in view of the many overhead structures such as elevated roadways associated with highways systems. Current regulations in the United States specify that said maximum height is 13'-6". Because of such restrictions, two modules cannot be transported one on top of the other. A height interval therefore exists between the height of a single level housing module which may be positioned on a truck, and its maximum permissible elevation. The magnitude of said height interval is further influenced by the distance of elevation of the bottom of said module above the highway. Said height interval generally remains unutilized with respect to accommodation of integral portions of the ultimate dwelling.
In the construction of multi-storied dwellings having two or more floor levels, arrangement of modules in dispositions stacked one on top of another or in side-by-side relationship is well practiced but generally requires considerable on-site specialized construction and finishing techniques which includes the need for heavy equipment to lift and position modules. Each truckload of modules is taxed by federal and local governments, thereby further increasing the cost of multi-modular housing. The assembly and finishing of modular-based dwellings having a split level design wherein floor levels are spaced less than 7 feet apart is usually more difficult than assembly of the simpler stacked or side-by-side designs. The increased amount of special techniques, labor and equipment involved in creating a finished split level dwelling from separate modules results in higher total cost of the final product.
It is an object of the present invention to produce a dwelling from a manufactured integral modular component which will occupy substantially maximum permissible highway transportation height.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a dwelling of split level design which, in partially constructed form will occupy substantially the maximum permissible highway transportation height as a manufactured integral component of said dwelling, and which can be completely finished on a desired site without need for attachment of modules or need for heavy construction equipment.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a low cost split level design dwelling of the aforementioned nature, the construction of which is completed at the desired site of the dwelling by finishing a single modular unit which can be transported on public highways.
It is a still further object to provide a dwelling of the aforementioned nature wherein said modular unit achieves practical functional utilization of the height interval between the height of a single level module and its maximum permissible elevation above a highway.
These objects and other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description.